Pumps are utilized in a wide variety of systems and assemblies to displace liquids, gases, slurries, and the like. One such system that utilizes a pump is a cooling system of an automobile engine. Automobile engine cooling systems typically include a pump, commonly referred to as a “water pump,” to pump antifreeze, or other similar coolants, around and through the automobile engine to cool the engine during operation.
A common water pump 1 is schematically illustrated in FIG. 1. A water pump 1 is typically a centrifugal pump driven by a drive belt 2 connected to the crankshaft 3 of the engine. The water pump 1 includes a pulley 4, a center shaft 5, an impeller 6, and a bearing assembly 7. The pulley 4 and impeller 6 are coupled to opposite ends of the center shaft 5. The drive belt 2 is connected to the pulley 4 such that the pulley 4 rotates as the crankshaft 3 of the engine rotates. The coupling of the pulley 4 and the impeller 6 to the center shaft 5 causes the shaft 5 and impeller 6 to rotate as the pulley 4 rotates. The center shaft 5 is supported by the bearing assembly 7, which generally secures the shaft 5 while allowing the shaft 5 to rotate about its longitudinal axis Al. The bearing assembly 7 is positioned to contact the center shaft 5 at a location between the pulley 4 and the impeller 6. The illustrated bearing assembly 7 is a double-row bearing assembly. In other words, the bearing assembly 7 includes first and second sets or rows of bearing elements 8 and 9, respectively, to secure the center shaft 5. The bearing assembly 7 is typically secured in a housing (not shown in FIG. 1), which may be used to secure the water pump 1 within the engine.
Prior art arrangements for water pumps, such as that shown in FIG. 1, may be difficult to incorporate into automobile engines due to the overall size of the water pump. As some automobiles are designed to be more compact and increasingly include features such as front wheel drive, available space in and around the engine becomes increasingly scarce. Therefore, there is a need in the art for arrangements of water pumps that reduce the overall size of the pump. Such reductions in size may increase the flexibility in which a water pump may be packaged into an automobile engine. Similarly, a reduction in the size of any pump may lead to greater flexibility in positioning the pump within its operational environment.